Mangaluru: Candidate for upcoming MLC elections Harikrishna Bantwal, who was recently expelled from the Congress for opposing the party's official candidate Pratapchandra Shetty and contesting as an independent, on Saturday December 19 lashed out at the party leaders and expressed his confidence on winning the MLC election.

Addressing a press meet here, Harikrishna Bantwal said, "Pratapchandra Shetty has no voice to speak about gram panchayat issues in the Legislative Council. He has not attended any of the government meetings in the last five years. If anyone can produce a photograph of Pratapchandra attending a government meeting, I will award him Rs 1 lac. Vinay Kumar Sorake and Oscar Fernandes have been saying that they had held discussions with party workers in every block before choosing the candidate. There are 15 Congress block units in Dakshina Kannada. Where did they hold meetings and with which MLA? All party workers suggested my name for the MLC polls, and even the district Congress interim president recommended my name to the KPCC. All sincere party workers should think about this."

"I will meet all the panchayat members in all the 13 constituencies. I am sure of winning the elections. If the voters elect me as MLC, I will raise my voice against the Yettinahole project and try to stop it. I will also urge the government to increase the monthly honorarium to Rs 2,000 for gram panchayat members, for Rs 3,000 for vice-president and Rs 5,000 for president. I will also demand Rs 50 lac grant for each gram panchayat and Rs 3 lac to Rs 5 lac development fund for each panchayat member. There should also be one engineer for three-to-four gram panchayats," he added.